The latest Tweets from Bear Family Records (@BearFamilyRec). The world's leading label for high quality reissues - serving fans and collectors since 1975. Hambergen, Germany.
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Bear Family Records, the German independent record label specializing in reissues of archival country, rock n' roll, rhythm n' blues, blues, folk and soul music, will have exclusive distribution in the U.S. (for the first time) via MVD Entertainment Group. The label, founded by collector Richard Weize, has been in existence since 1975 and started with the double LP Going Back to Dixie by Bill Clifton.Bear Family's oldest recording archives date back to 1896, but a great amount of their releases contain material from the ‘60s and '70s. The label has become known for its box sets, and the company describes itself as 'a collector's record label' due to its primary business reissuing rare recordings in CD format in small amounts. Historically, Bear Family Recrods material has had only limited availability in the U.S., stocked at Ernest Tubb Record Shops and through mail order sources. With the MVD deal in place, Bear Family box sets will be widely available in the U.S.'
With joining the MVD Entertainment group of labels, Bear Family is making the next step,' said Detlev Hoegen of Bear Family. 'While as a record label we are preserving the past, with MVD as our distribution partner we are meeting the challenges of today's global market.' Hoegen also presides over Cree Records, a new-ish imprint of Bear Family specializing in Caribbean, calypso, soul, funk, reggae, disco and obscure European releases. The label is heavily expanding in the vinyl market and will have approximately 20 new titles on LP (12' 180 gram, 10' and 45s).
Be they box sets, ongoing series, or single-disc titles, what are your most played and treasured releases from Bear Family Records? I know this label gets plenty of respect as is, but they really do deserve it.
As for my picks,Individual CDs: Johnny Burnette Trio - Rockbilly Boogie (Arguably the greatest collection of any rockabilly act's work) Allen Toussaint - The Complete 'Tousan' Sessions (A young Toussaint performing joyous, jubilant piano instrumentals like a hopped-up Tuts Washington. Relaxes me like nothing else.) Sonny Burgess - Classic Recordings 1956-1959 (Unhinged rockabilly with near-impenetrable hillbilly vocals and occasional Dixieland horns, one of the few who never switched to country or pop-rock in search of a hit) Jimmy McCrackin - Mercury Recordings (Upbeat, late-50's R&B/borderline rock 'n' roll, plus the funkiest 'Folsom Prison Blues' you'll ever hear.
It's a travesty that only 13 of the 24 songs he recorded for Mercury survived. Leave it to Bear Family to bother chronicling such a worthy-yet-minor phase of a lesser-known bluesman's career.)Boxes: Chuck Berry - Rock and Roll Music - Any Old Way You Choose It (The most impressive box set I own, and a suitable testament to his legacy) Fats Domino - Out of New Orleans (Even though the last couple discs run a little weak, Domino's 200-song run on Imperial is a blast to listen through repeatedly. The notes really heightened my respect for Dave Bartholomew.) Don Gibson - The Singer, the Songwriter (Particularly the first two volumes when Gibson was at his creative peak. All it's missing is a book of lyrics) Charlie Rich - Lonely Weekends: The Sun Years 1958-1962 (It's fascinating to hear him weave through so many styles - and so adeptly - over such a short span of time.
The undubbed versions of his Sun singles are a godsend.) Roy Orbison - Orbison 1955-1965 (Bought almost solely for his Monument recordings on discs 4, 5, and 6, but worth every penny nonetheless.). I enjoy all of the Bear Family box sets that I have and a few of my favorites are:Lesley Gore 'It's My Party!' Click to expand.This is one of the things that get attention in Bear Family productions in the last 8 or nine years: now catalog numbers and album titles are listed with the cover pictures, and in some cases (like the third Rick Nelson box or the Hermits release) the original album track listing is given. These things are also added to (redesigned) reprints of old books - see Webb Pierce, the second Cash box, the Louvin Brothers, the Classic Jerry Lee, and others. (A new version of the 'Come Along And Ride This Train' book is in preparation).
While on the subject of favorite Bear Family boxes, how about your favorite 'bricks and mortar' shop where you can see Bear Family. I have been to a few warehouses that stocked Bear Family, though often in the cardboard shipping containers that didn't allow you to see the actual box.
I have also been to a few shops that may have had as many as a dozen boxes. But as far as my experience, all around the USA, I have only seen one shop - right off the sidewalk - that had ALL of them on display. That is Cheapo Records in Cambridge, Mass (Boston). However, the owner has not been able to justify stocking the recent titles.
It was always an overwhelming experience to look at them all. I suppose County Sales may let you browse, if you visit their mail order business, but that is not the same as an off-the-street record store, and they focus on the country sets. Cheapo's stock has diminished over time, but I applaud them for standing by Bear Family all these years. Whenever I go in a collector's shop, I ask them if they have any Bear Family - the answer is usually (or almost always) NO.